Mostly About Organized Crime

01/15/2014

One-time Chicago cop Steven Mandell goes to trial next month for allegedly planning to kill Anthony Quaranta and otherwise terrorize his associate Demitri Stavropoulos in order to take over their apparent interests in the Polekatz strip club in suburban Bridgeview "that has been engulfed in controversy over its murky finances and alleged ties to felons and organized crime associates" as reported by Jason Meisner and Joseph Ryan for the Chicago Tribune: "originally from the Italian section of Chicago's Near West Side known as 'The Patch,' Mandell's criminal history goes back to his days as a Chicago cop in the 1970s and '80s."

Broadway Bank had already lent millions to Michael Giorango when he and a new business partner, Demitri Stavropoulos, came to the bank in mid-2004. Although both men were preparing to serve federal prison terms, the bank embarked on a series of loans to them. Alexi Giannoulias took a senior position at the bank at about the same time and used it as a launching pad for his political career. But as he campaigns to step up from state treasurer to the U.S. Senate, he has tried to distance himself from the bank's business with the pair and has been reluctant to detail his role. * * * While Broadway lawyers now criticize Giorango's business practices, the newspaper's examination of court files, land records and public bank documents raises questions about the bank's decisions to make loans to men with criminal histories. * * * Public records do not show which bank officials negotiated or approved any of the loans. Giannoulias declined to be interviewed by the Tribune or to review public records outlining the bank's loans. * * * Stavropoulos in 2005 began a two-year sentence following a felony conviction for running a multistate bookmaking ring, while Giorango would serve six months intermittent confinement on a felony for promoting a nationwide prostitution scheme as Broadway financed their land deals from downtown Chicago to Florida, California and South Carolina.

Broadway Bank claims to be a "community bank" but the above-referenced loans cause one to wonder exactly what community it is serving, and perhaps the entire loan history of Broadway Bank from its inception should be examined to determine the full extent to which it may have loaned to other convicted felons and disreputable figures.

03/04/2010

John Kass from the Chicago Tribune is seemingly unimpressed with the attempt by Alexi Giannoulias -- the Democrat Illinois State Treasurer running for his friend Barack Obama's old Senate seat -- to explain "loans he approved for some earthy types, including Michael 'Jaws' Giorango, the convicted Outfit bookie and protector of a national prostitution circuit" while serving as chief loan officer at his family's Broadway Bank. Kass writes:

He did address the issues. But he didn't exactly put them to rest. He failed. If anything, he may have made things worse by offering answers that only supporters would characterize, optimistically, as "evolving." So reporters will keep pecking, as they should, and so will his opponent, Republican Mark Kirk. And if Broadway Bank fails as even Giannoulias now expects, his could be a political death by a thousand pecks. With the Tribune's editorial board, Giannoulias was asked how his relationship with Giorango developed, and at what point did he learn that Giorango, whom he described as a "colorful character," had a criminal background. "I learned of it primarily when I was running for the office of state treasurer (in 2006)," Giannoulias said. "I mean, I don't remember the exact date, whether it was during the primary or during the general. I think it was during the primary." He was promptly reminded that on April 27, 2006, during his campaign for treasurer, he told Tribune reporters that he had discussed Giorango's criminal past with him. The discussion took place as Giannoulias worked on millions of dollars' worth of bank loans for Giorango. It was years before Giannoulias' entry into politics.

Even if Giannoulias did not know about Giorango's colorful past prior to approving the loans, the fundamental question still begged is why didn't he exercise the due diligence in the first instance by which he easily could have uncovered the information? Certainly a loan applicant's criminal background is relevant to credit worthiness. Indeed, after defaults on the loans, Broadway Bank now is suing "Giorango and his partner, Demitri Stavropoulos, who was convicted of running a betting operation in Chicago, over $12.9 million in loans for a Miami Beach hotel and a Hollywood, Fla., restaurant, among other ventures" as reported by Abdon M. Pallasch for the Chicago Sun-Times. Moreover, there are other questionable loans approved by Giannoulias, including more than $10 million from 2001 to 2005 to reputed "Russian mobsters Boris and Lev Stratievsky" as further reported by Pallasch.

Broadway Bank claims to be a "community bank" but some of the loans approved by Giannoulias cause one to wonder exactly what community it is serving, and perhaps the entire loan portfolio history of Broadway Bank from its inception should be examined to determine whether it loaned to reputed mobsters and other disreputable figures even prior to Alexi joining the team.